Local Marketing
Utah Web Design
When it comes to marketing in Utah or marketing in general, being found is one of the most important factors to consider. If you’re going out to be discovered for a specific keyword, like Utah web design, then you know that you want to focus on that one keyword. If you are going to focus on your social media, then you would want to post that keyword all over your social sites. But what if you wanted to be found by all your local customers?
The local marketplace is incredibly hard to pin down. So much variance exists in the business category, size and location that making forecasts or identifying trends is difficult. What works for an SMB with eight locations and 100 employees is often not a good predictor for a two-person store.
At the Local Search Association, we are working on analyzing narrower profiles of local businesses to try to provide better information and insights into the needs of SMBs in today’s changing search and marketing landscape.
Our research partner, Thrive Analytics, conducts an annual Local Pulse survey to gauge SMB attitudes towards different forms of media and offers forecasts for economic activity, SMB marketing budgets and their relationship with agencies. I’ll be taking a look at Thrive Analytics’ 2015 Local Marketing Outlook for Home and Auto Emergency Related Service Businesses to provide five search and marketing tips for small local businesses with similar profiles.
Business Profile
Home and Auto Emergency Related services include businesses such as appliance repair, plumbers, HVAC service providers, auto repair shops and tire dealers. There are some common characteristics in this group that help define those businesses this outlook would apply to.
- Services are often provided in a time-sensitive manner and involve repairs that customers view as urgent or problems that require quick solutions.
- Businesses are small in size — more than 80 percent of these businesses have nine or fewer employees, and almost 65 percent have four or fewer employees.
- Most are single-location businesses — 52 percent have one location, and 75 percent have three or fewer locations.
- Average transaction revenue is $431, excluding roofers. Roofers have an average transaction receipt of more than $4,600.
- The ideal customers are established and financially stable clients who spend more — often older customers with stable jobs and larger assets. For example, the average transaction price for an auto repair service for a Millennial is $327, compared with $533 for a Boomer or senior.
- Average marketing spend is approximately $8,000 per year.
- The business outlook is up, and 34.4 percent of businesses with nine or fewer employees will increase marketing spend. The remaining SMBs will mostly keep spending the same.
Source: Search Engine Land
